Hepatitis B Virus in Iran Epidemiology, Liver Cell Damage and Clinical Procedure

Hepatitis B is the most common cause of acute and chronic viral hepatitis in Iran. It is the etiology of 70% of end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma in the country. Before the universal neonatal vaccination in Iran (1992), the contact rate with HBV was about 30% and the HBs Ag+ rate was about 3%. In 2009 the contact rate has declined to 18% and HBsAg+ rate decreased to 2%. The estimated total number of death due to HBV is about 5000.Almost 90% of about 2 million carries in Iran are unaware of infection. Early diagnosis and effective therapy of this infection could reduce the morbidity and mortality of infection.